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When it comes to comparing the NHL’s two outdoor games, the Winter Classic and the Heritage Classic, the upcoming game in Calgary between the Canadiens and Flames is a second-class citizen to the New Year’s Day event.

In the run-up to the Winter Classic, the NHL did all it could and more to promote the event, the teams, the players, the venue — you name it. A search of the NHL’s media website that archives press releases turns up about 45 documents promoting the Heinz Field event last month, and that doesn’t count the seemingly infinite stories that appeared on NHL.com (which had a huge section dedicated to the event updated, it seemed, by the minute, including a blog and live webcam at the site), the NHL Network’s non-stop hype and live coverage, the TV spots produced to run on NHL game telecasts, plus the HBO “24/7″ series and all the attendant publicity that arose from it. It was a public relations and promotional triumph.

Now, here comes the Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium in on February 20. A search reveals all of eight press releases on the NHL’s media website. NHL.com has a page with 14 stories linked on it, one of them still in their feature box from last August on how much the Habs’ Josh Gorges, who was declared out for the season almost a month ago, is looking forward to playing in the game.

And the NHL’s big promotional push, which apparently began yesterday (you knew that, right?), seems to be a big 18-wheel trailer truck filled with the ice making equipment that is driving from Toronto to Calgary and stopping at points in between to give lucky Canadians the opportunity to see all the machinery that will be used to create the rink. Yowser!

That really says “hockey heritage,” eh? Well, there will be fan giveaways and promotions at every stop along the way (get your Timbits now) and, according to the press release, “the opportunity to get an NHL photo taken at the Canadian Tire green screen.” This seems to be the green screen; it’s, well, a green screen in front of which one can have one’s photo taken.

The afterthought nature of the NHL’s limp promotional effort is compounded by a double indignity in the fact that this truck won’t be motoring east to help promote the game in the town of one of the participating teams, although it doesn’t seem as if they’re missing much.

Regardless, that hasn’t been overlooked in Montreal: “A sort-of national truck tour will give fans in five cities – none of them Montreal – a chance to talk about the game and get a look at the machinery that will build the outdoor rink,” wrote Dave Stubbs on the Montreal Gazette’s Habs Inside/Out blog. “Naturally, the tour begins today in the centre of the hockey universe and works its way west. Fitting, I guess, given that the title sponsorship of the game bears the name of the donut chain founded by a late Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman."

It’s not that the NHL is incapable of striking the right notes on certain occasions. The introduction at last week’s All-Star Game in Raleigh, especially with the choose-up theme, was exceptional in taste and tone with franchise favorites Ron Francis and Rod Brind’Amour perfect complements to the proceedings. But there’s a nagging sense the Heritage Classic is a burden for the league, an obligation to the sport in its birthplace that won’t bring them any tangible benefit in U.S. TV ratings, sponsorships or merchandise sales. Canada is a mature hockey market and the growth possibilities in the U.S. seems to inspire the league far more.

But the relative negligence is not just obvious, it doesn’t serve the league’s own interests. This is a cross-border business and there’s much to gain by promoting a unique game like the one in Calgary — not the least of which is improving the league’s image. Anyone in any business knows that if you take your customers for granted, they may go elsewhere. Or turn on you. The hostility in Canada toward the NHL in the aftermath of the debacle caused by those who wanted to move the Coyotes to Hamilton can’t have already been forgotten, can it?

Meanwhile, the big truck rolls on. It will be in Winnipeg (birthplace of Terry Sawchuk) on Feb. 5; in Regina (where Dick Irvin, Jr. grew up) on Feb. 6; in Saskatoon (where Gordie Howe was from) on Feb. 7; and Edmonton (Johnny Bucyk’s hometown) on Feb. 8; before arriving in Calgary on Feb. 9

Valid question. I haven't seen any lead up to the Heritage Classic. Obviously the Winter Classic was to attract American viewers, but the NHL can't put a little more than minimal effort into promoting this game for hockey fans, Canadian fans in particular?

McMahon makeover
Artist rendering of what McMahon Stadium will look like at Heritage Classic

NEW YORK – The National Hockey League today unveiled an architectural rendering of the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic™, the much-anticipated outdoor match-up between the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens at 4 p.m. MT Sunday, Feb. 20, at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

A celebration of hockey’s rich outdoor history and proud Canadian heritage, the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic is the first NHL® regular season game contested outdoors in Canada since the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Canadiens at the first Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium on November 22, 2003.

The rendering shows McMahon Stadium and the 40,000 hockey fans that are expected to fill the stadium on game day.

Adjacent to the stadium is Spectator Plaza, the outdoor hockey and entertainment festival with live musical performances, interactive hockey-themed attractions, prizing and giveaways, food, beverage and merchandise tents. The two-day festival will be open from Noon – 6 p.m. (M.S.T.) on Feb. 19 and from Noon until game time on Feb. 20.

On Feb. 20, CBC and RDS will carry the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic live in Canada and VERSUS will telecast the outdoor match in the United States.

In addition to the standard and HD telecasts, the game is being distributed in next-generation 3D in Canada via CBC and in the U.S. via VERSUS.

On radio, Calgary’s Fan 960, Montreal’s CJAD (English) and CKAC (French) and Sirius XM's NHL Home Ice XM 204 and Sirius 208 (with Best of XM package in the US, only) will have all of the coverage around North America. NHL Network™ and NHL.com will provide extensive pre- and post-game programming.

NHL Facilities Operations Manager Dan Craig and his crew were all set to start flooding the rink at McMahon Stadium on Sunday afternoon, but with nary a cloud in the sky and the sun shining brightly, the process was delayed for a few hours.

But the direct sunlight wasn't a problem for Craig, whose crew sprayed the first drops of water in preparation for the 2011 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames at about 4 p.m. local time.

"We were ready to go at lunch time," Craig said. "The guys broke for lunch and went out and did a couple of sprays and realized Mother Nature wasn't going to help us for about three hours so we had to kind of back down a little bit and wait for the sun to go off over the wall."

With the sun out of the way, Craig's crew got things started.

"Everything's good. We're all set up," said Craig, whose crew also started putting in the stanchions that will hold the glass Sunday. "We slushed the bottom of the boards and now we're basically an hour into our ice-making," said Craig. "Everything is set up really well. The sun has gone down and it's all going to be good."

Craig said the two-day process of slowly filling the rink with water requires patience. The task involves a member of the crew walking from one end of the ice to the other with a hose while four or five other members carry the other end of the hose. With the sun going down and the temperatures dropping, it's a job that only gets more difficult as the night progresses.

Once the spraying concludes at about midnight Sunday, the crew will be back to work at about 5 a.m. on Monday morning to repeat the spraying process. But everything is progressing as planned.

"I like the setup here. I think we made it look really neat on our side," Craig said.

As the calendar year of 2010 came to a close, the Calgary Flames were closer to last place in the Western Conference than they were to a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Much has changed for the Flames in 2011, and the opportunity to play in the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic should be a more positive one because of it.

"I think it adds to the experience," Flames forward David Moss said. "The game is going to be, you know, a fun game anyways, and with the importance of us playing for a playoff spot and Montréal already being in this spot and they are fighting for position, too, I think that adds to the atmosphere and probably will add to the intensity of the game."

Calgary was in 14th place in the West on December 23 -- two points in front of last-place Edmonton and reeling from three straight losses and five in its last seven games. At that point the Flames had a team meeting and decided to set their focus on three-game segments -- just win two of three like a baseball series and don't worry about how far the team had to climb.

It worked. The Flames are 15-4-5 since that meeting and currently sit in eighth place in the West. Their hold on the spot is tenuous -- two points separates sixth place from 10th in the conference -- but that the club is in contention is a great achievement from where it was in mid-December.

"I think that we believed from day one that we had a better team than what we showed in the first 40 or so games, and when we finally started getting a bounce here and there, we started believing in ourselves," forward Alex Tanguay said. "And right now we feel that we can play and we can match up against any of the other teams.

"I think that once you get that confidence, certainly with the team we have, we are certainly going to be a tough team to beat and we are just going to try to work as hard as possible to keep that confidence level high. And right now, we know that we are a long way from where we want to be, but our objective is to get ourselves in the playoffs and right now we've put ourselves in position to do that."

Now Sunday's contest against the Montreal Canadiens at McMahon Stadium is going to take on a much greater importance. The Canadiens have been fighting for playoff position all season in the Eastern Conference, but now both teams involved will be seeking a much needed victory.

Montreal is currently fifth in the East, but only one point shy of Boston for the top spot in the Northeast and a top-three seed in the postseason.

"I think that we are very well aware that it's going to be a fun experience and very unique, but we have to be professional about it," Tanguay said. "We know that those two points might be the difference for us getting in and us getting out. So we have to make sure that we don't give away games. Our fans are certainly going to help us a lot more on that one. It's going to be very loud outside with 40-plus thousand fans. For sure, we are not forgetting the task at hand."

Added Moss: "I think no matter what game it is from here on out, we know that all of these points are huge. And I think the guys will take in the experience, too, but I think once you are on the ice and once the puck drops, we are fighting for those two points."

CALGARY -- The Calgary Flames had every excuse in the world Sunday to get away from what has made them successful during the past two months.

There were all the distractions in the days leading up to the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic.

There was the unfamiliar setting, an outdoor rink at McMahon Stadium.

There was the frigid game time temperature of -8.6 degrees Celsius (16.5 Fahrenheit) which was even colder when factoring in the wind chill and which fell throughout the game.

There was the ice, which was causing pucks to bounce more often than they would in the comfy confines of the Scotiabank Saddledome.

None of that mattered to the Flames, who didn't let any of those obstacles stand in their way as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in front of 41,022 fans who braved the elements for the historic game.

"I thought we played well. It's a real compliment to the guys for holding the focus the way they have the last few days," said Flames coach Brent Sutter, who donned a fedora in the spirit of the throwback uniforms. "Because a situation like this can get away on you just with everything else that's going on. They were very professional and very focused and they know the situation our team is in."

The Flames have scrapped their way back into the playoff race thanks to their sensational 17-4-5 stretch since Dec. 23. They are 11-1-2 in their last 14 games and vaulted from 10th to sixth in the Western Conference with Sunday's win.

The players will never forget the pageantry and spectacle of playing in an outdoor game -- the massive number of fans, the pregame affair that included a flyover and ceremonial puck drop featuring legends Bob Gainey of the Canadiens and Lanny McDonald of the Flames.

But at the end of the day, the two points might be what the players cherish most.

"It was definitely something where we wanted to find that balance between enjoying it and our family and friends and the city being excited, but being ready come game time," said captain Jarome Iginla, who had an assist. "But it felt good. In the standings, we need it."

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the standings and figure out what's going on," said Curtis Glencross, who extended his points streak to seven games with an assist. "We came in here and everyone was business-like."

The Flames have been getting contributions from just about everyone in their lineup the past two months, and it was more of the same Sunday.

Rene Bourque, who had just 4 goals in his past 28 games, scored twice. Anton Babchuk's shorthanded goal midway through the second period was only his sixth in 44 games with the Flames. Alex Tanguay has been a consistent contributor all season, but his 16th goal of the season during a third-period power play was merely icing on the cake.

Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff was the undisputed first star of the game, making an outdoor game record 39 saves to become the first goalie to earn a shutout in either the Heritage or Winter Classic.

"We've been working, and it's been all different guys seem to be having really good nights on all different nights," Iginla said. "It feels good."

Bourque will be remembered as the most dominant skater on either team. Beyond his two goals, he had a career-high and outdoor game record 11 shots, shattering the previous record of 7 held by Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk and Pittsburgh's Kris Letang.

The 29-year-old left wing who honed his game playing on frozen ponds in Lac La Biche, Alberta, gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 8:09 of the first period when he converted a gorgeous pass from Tanguay during a 5-on-3 power play.

After Babchuk ripped a one-timer past Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (33 saves) midway through the second period, Bourque struck for a beauty of a goal 2:02 later when he controlled a bouncing puck and beat Price 1-on-1 with a quick backhand shot to put the Flames up 3-0.

"I think it's right up there with playing your first game," said Bourque, who reached the 100-goal plateau Sunday. "The first goal happened so fast, but I kind of got to enjoy the second one more. I knew I was going to get a good chance. To score my 100th goal like that was pretty fun."

Kiprusoff was at his best in the second period when the Flames blew the game open. He made 21 saves, the most ever in one period during an outdoor game.